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The Heart Has Reasons: Holocaust Rescuers and Their Stories of Courage
The author, a first generation Jewish-American, seeks out some of the last surviving rescuers of Jewish children during the Nazi occupation of Holland to produce this collective portrait of ten heroic individuals. NOTE: AN UPDATED EDITION IS NOW AVAILABLE.
235 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2006
11 people are currently reading
986 people want to read
About the author
Mark Klempner
3 books26 followersMark Klempner is a historian, memoirist, and social commentator. The son of an immigrant who barely escaped the Holocaust, Klempner spent nearly a decade talking with and getting to know the Dutch rescuers in order to write The Heart Has Reasons: Dutch Rescuers of Jewish Children during the Holocaust. Klempner grew up in New York, and attended Cornell University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1997, and winning a J. William Fulbright Fellowship. In 2000, he received an M.A. in folklore from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Klempner’s articles have appeared internationally in professional publications such as the Oral History Review, as well as in the Christian Science Monitor, Baltimore Sun, and other mainstream newspapers and periodicals. He has also been featured as a commentator on NPR and other broadcast media. Online, Klempner has blogged for the Huffington Post and contributed to Alternet.org and CommonDreams.org.
Klempner’s articles have appeared internationally in professional publications such as the Oral History Review, as well as in the Christian Science Monitor, Baltimore Sun, and other mainstream newspapers and periodicals. He has also been featured as a commentator on NPR and other broadcast media. Online, Klempner has blogged for the Huffington Post and contributed to Alternet.org and CommonDreams.org.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 27, 2013
The Research and Writings of a Great Humanist
Mark Klempner has published a revised edition of his 2006 book that represented his intensive research and thoughtful interviews with ten Dutch rescuers of Jewish children during the Holocaust. Not having read the original version this reviewer cannot make comparisons between the two editions, but that is inconsequential. This book is so deeply moving, so meticulously researched and so important that it stands alone as a pinnacle achievement. According to the provided biographical information, `Mark Klempner is a historian, memoirist, and social commentator. The son of an immigrant who barely escaped the Holocaust, Klempner spent nearly a decade talking with and getting to know the Dutch rescuers in order to write "The Heart Has Reasons." Klempner grew up in New York, and attended Cornell University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1997, and winning a J. William Fulbright Fellowship. In 2000, he received an M.A. in folklore studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.'
Klempner begins his book with a history of his finding the need to communicate something of importance to mankind. After searching for a job of meaning (including answering a suicide prevention hotline, campaigning for candidates in the government who stood for policies with which he could align, etc), he tried to make a difference: `By the early 1990s, however, the US had changed in ways I couldn't have imagined, and so had I. I see my personal changes as a sobering lesson in the power of society to affect and mold an individual. Like Anne Frank, I'd always thought that people were basically good, but being a studio guitarist in Hollywood during the `80s had eroded my capacity to believe even that. This was a dangerous development, for once you stop expecting people to be good, you'd be surprised at what they begin to show.' And so Klempner came across an idea to find a cause to relay to the public about the importance of caring for each other. What resulted is this magnificent book where Klempner interviews ten Dutch people who protectively shielded Jewish children in the Netherlands when the Nazis invaded.
This fine book is an example of not only expert reporting, but also information about which very few of us knew. These ten people hid Jewish children, preventing their being sent to concentration camps. And the amazing aspect that no one knows is that these people, devoted as they were to helping mankind survive the Holocaust, were themselves frequently imprisoned and suffered greatly for their acts of compassion. One by one Klempner interviews these ten souls, each with a unique story, and manages to give us a full picture of what life in Holland was like under Nazi occupation. It is an eye opener, but more important, it is an homage to these brave human beings who, not being Jewish, took care of their fellowmen (children) whose future as Jews was destined to work camps and extermination had they not been protected. This is sobering account, but it also is an exhilarating book that restores our faith in the possibilities of opening our lives and hearts to those who need human kindness. Bravo!
Grady Harp
Mark Klempner has published a revised edition of his 2006 book that represented his intensive research and thoughtful interviews with ten Dutch rescuers of Jewish children during the Holocaust. Not having read the original version this reviewer cannot make comparisons between the two editions, but that is inconsequential. This book is so deeply moving, so meticulously researched and so important that it stands alone as a pinnacle achievement. According to the provided biographical information, `Mark Klempner is a historian, memoirist, and social commentator. The son of an immigrant who barely escaped the Holocaust, Klempner spent nearly a decade talking with and getting to know the Dutch rescuers in order to write "The Heart Has Reasons." Klempner grew up in New York, and attended Cornell University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1997, and winning a J. William Fulbright Fellowship. In 2000, he received an M.A. in folklore studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.'
Klempner begins his book with a history of his finding the need to communicate something of importance to mankind. After searching for a job of meaning (including answering a suicide prevention hotline, campaigning for candidates in the government who stood for policies with which he could align, etc), he tried to make a difference: `By the early 1990s, however, the US had changed in ways I couldn't have imagined, and so had I. I see my personal changes as a sobering lesson in the power of society to affect and mold an individual. Like Anne Frank, I'd always thought that people were basically good, but being a studio guitarist in Hollywood during the `80s had eroded my capacity to believe even that. This was a dangerous development, for once you stop expecting people to be good, you'd be surprised at what they begin to show.' And so Klempner came across an idea to find a cause to relay to the public about the importance of caring for each other. What resulted is this magnificent book where Klempner interviews ten Dutch people who protectively shielded Jewish children in the Netherlands when the Nazis invaded.
This fine book is an example of not only expert reporting, but also information about which very few of us knew. These ten people hid Jewish children, preventing their being sent to concentration camps. And the amazing aspect that no one knows is that these people, devoted as they were to helping mankind survive the Holocaust, were themselves frequently imprisoned and suffered greatly for their acts of compassion. One by one Klempner interviews these ten souls, each with a unique story, and manages to give us a full picture of what life in Holland was like under Nazi occupation. It is an eye opener, but more important, it is an homage to these brave human beings who, not being Jewish, took care of their fellowmen (children) whose future as Jews was destined to work camps and extermination had they not been protected. This is sobering account, but it also is an exhilarating book that restores our faith in the possibilities of opening our lives and hearts to those who need human kindness. Bravo!
Grady Harp
April 20, 2017
"Do you have any advice for younger generations as to how we can prevent something as terrible as the Holocaust from recurring?" " do what you can, where you can, with what you've got. There are many holocausts going on in the world, and all around us. Step in wherever and whenever you can." -page 165, Mieke Vermeer
"We say the Germans killed the Jews, but it was the Christians who killed the Jews. All those nazis, you know, and the NSBers who collaborated with them here in Hollander were Christians. They were baptized as Catholics and Protestants. Pope Pius XII didn't talk about what was going on. He reigned from 1939-1958, and before that he was the papal nuncio in, of all places, Germany. He knew very well what was brewing in Germany. If he had opened his mouth and said, 'anyone who lays a finger on a Jewish person will be excommunicated ', that would have been a great help to us. But he kept his mouth shut. As a result, many people joined the nazis, especially in the occupied countries , and some of them became more dangerous than the German nazis" -Theo Leenders, page 187
"The war was already a stupid thing. You send your son to be killed because of the madness of some fanatical leader. To reheat the old hate is not going to get us anywhere. We who remember the nazi occupation have to master the feelings of resentment and humiliation that those memories stir up in us.then we'll be able to move forward into a brighter future. Our leaders,especially, need to be motivated by love, not hate. And I don't mean love for money. They should take to heart Gandhi's advice: he said to recall the face of the poorest and most helpless person you've ever met, and then ask yourself if the step you are contemplating will be of any use to him" -Theo Leenders, page 189
"Likewise, it's difficult to generalize about altruism in human nature, but the existence of even a single rescuer enables us to draw one very hopeful conclusion: at a crossroads where ethical action and rational self-interest lay in opposite directions, not everyone chose to look out for themselves." -page 193
"Some of the rescuers even expressed the view that the behavior of their bystander neighbors possessed some merit. They explained that if someone suspected that you were harboring Jews and yet did not inform the nazis, that person was, in a way, helping with the Resistance. Why would the rescuers give bystanders so much credit? Perhaps they never can forget how much silence was worth"-page 199
"Many were too preoccupied with their own problems to notice what was being done to others more vulnerable than themselves. Many decided, consciously or unconsciously, *not* to see, for seeing would necessitate action"-page 204
"Human beings will often substitute illustration and rationalization for the simple awareness of a painful truth. In occupied Holland, such tendencies were intensified by the sheer enormity of the nazi crimes, and the smokescreen of prevarication behind which they were taking place. To see the painful truth, one had to want to look." -Pages 204-205
"We say the Germans killed the Jews, but it was the Christians who killed the Jews. All those nazis, you know, and the NSBers who collaborated with them here in Hollander were Christians. They were baptized as Catholics and Protestants. Pope Pius XII didn't talk about what was going on. He reigned from 1939-1958, and before that he was the papal nuncio in, of all places, Germany. He knew very well what was brewing in Germany. If he had opened his mouth and said, 'anyone who lays a finger on a Jewish person will be excommunicated ', that would have been a great help to us. But he kept his mouth shut. As a result, many people joined the nazis, especially in the occupied countries , and some of them became more dangerous than the German nazis" -Theo Leenders, page 187
"The war was already a stupid thing. You send your son to be killed because of the madness of some fanatical leader. To reheat the old hate is not going to get us anywhere. We who remember the nazi occupation have to master the feelings of resentment and humiliation that those memories stir up in us.then we'll be able to move forward into a brighter future. Our leaders,especially, need to be motivated by love, not hate. And I don't mean love for money. They should take to heart Gandhi's advice: he said to recall the face of the poorest and most helpless person you've ever met, and then ask yourself if the step you are contemplating will be of any use to him" -Theo Leenders, page 189
"Likewise, it's difficult to generalize about altruism in human nature, but the existence of even a single rescuer enables us to draw one very hopeful conclusion: at a crossroads where ethical action and rational self-interest lay in opposite directions, not everyone chose to look out for themselves." -page 193
"Some of the rescuers even expressed the view that the behavior of their bystander neighbors possessed some merit. They explained that if someone suspected that you were harboring Jews and yet did not inform the nazis, that person was, in a way, helping with the Resistance. Why would the rescuers give bystanders so much credit? Perhaps they never can forget how much silence was worth"-page 199
"Many were too preoccupied with their own problems to notice what was being done to others more vulnerable than themselves. Many decided, consciously or unconsciously, *not* to see, for seeing would necessitate action"-page 204
"Human beings will often substitute illustration and rationalization for the simple awareness of a painful truth. In occupied Holland, such tendencies were intensified by the sheer enormity of the nazi crimes, and the smokescreen of prevarication behind which they were taking place. To see the painful truth, one had to want to look." -Pages 204-205
August 24, 2011
When the Nazis invaded Holland, persecution of the Jews began almost immediately. While most people hid in their homes in fear, a few courageous students formed the Dutch resistance and began to hide Jewish children all over the country in direct defiance to the Nazis. Their work was very dangerous and many lost their lives in the process. Author Mark Klempner travels back to the Netherlands to interview a few of these angels now at the sunset of their lives. Klempner's journey becomes a cathartic experience and he is changed forever.
These courageous rescuers all have one thing in common: they feel compassion for the people around them in danger of losing their lives because of who they are. When asked by the author why they put their lives on the line for people they didn't know when they stood to gain nothing, they answered to the contrary. They succeeded in thwarting the enemy and in preserving their humanity. That statement alone earns this book five stars from me.
These courageous rescuers all have one thing in common: they feel compassion for the people around them in danger of losing their lives because of who they are. When asked by the author why they put their lives on the line for people they didn't know when they stood to gain nothing, they answered to the contrary. They succeeded in thwarting the enemy and in preserving their humanity. That statement alone earns this book five stars from me.
October 16, 2014
I have read a lot of Holocaust books, and with that said, this book made it into the list of 5 or so books that will stand out in my mind when I think about the Holocaust.
The reason this book stands out amongst others is because it not only offers first hand accounts of citizens who rescued Jewish children, it also paints a picture of what it what like in Holland during that time, how it differed from Germany, and even how the topography was a hazard in a country that is the size of the state of Maryland. With each first hand account, there was a follow up that provided more insight to the other people in that person's account. It was moving, and I would recommend it to anyone studying the Holocaust in detail.
The reason this book stands out amongst others is because it not only offers first hand accounts of citizens who rescued Jewish children, it also paints a picture of what it what like in Holland during that time, how it differed from Germany, and even how the topography was a hazard in a country that is the size of the state of Maryland. With each first hand account, there was a follow up that provided more insight to the other people in that person's account. It was moving, and I would recommend it to anyone studying the Holocaust in detail.
April 24, 2019
Forced, facile ... an American who can’t even learn his parents’ language, so takes the easy way out - interview Dutch people (the easiest people in the world to talk with) in English. How well can you probe and explore someone’s motives and feelings in a foreign language? These noble folk were pushing 90 by the time he got around to sending a manuscript for them to edit/review - why so many years? - could they even see well enough to read? The project smacks of armchair intellectual meets wanna be do-gooder trying too hard.
September 18, 2017
Received a free copy of this. Wonderful written book. So many times in a tragedy there is nobody to help. This book makes us aware, that a few special ones can really make a big difference. Took some awful big risk, but helped so many.
December 3, 2018
Such amazing, admirable everday people who did extraorinary things.
February 14, 2023
Fascinating, but poorly written. The photos show ordinary looking people who did extraordinary works to save hundreds of Jews during WW2.
Read
June 17, 2025The book was interesting in terms of subject, but the writing was not good.
October 7, 2012
This is a wonderful book, with meaningful lessons told as high adventure, really. It is hard for me to read Holocaust stories knowing that everyone whom you grow to love will die a horrible death. Here we have ordinary heroes performing ordinary miracles and living to tell us about it. In a time of cynicism and growing discontent, we find these people who, at a crossroads in history, did the right thing, because it seemed the only thing that they could do.
I am always drawn to this time in history. This is a book I can re-read, lend, recommend.
And I knew the author when he was in Ithaca, and one of my cats, who was an exquisite judge of humans, quite liked him. He appreciated her purr.
I am always drawn to this time in history. This is a book I can re-read, lend, recommend.
And I knew the author when he was in Ithaca, and one of my cats, who was an exquisite judge of humans, quite liked him. He appreciated her purr.
November 10, 2008
This book had the same number (Dewey Decimal that is at the Provo Library) as Maus (that Shamae read and recommended) but honestly, when I looked at Maus I didn't feel like I could handle it where and when I was.
So when I saw this book right there by it I thought I'd give it a go. This is really a wonderful book. Very inspiring and I love that the author brings out that the people he interviewed that had helped rescue and hide people during the war still work to help people and causes today. It makes you think about the kind of person you are and what more you can do to help in the world.
So when I saw this book right there by it I thought I'd give it a go. This is really a wonderful book. Very inspiring and I love that the author brings out that the people he interviewed that had helped rescue and hide people during the war still work to help people and causes today. It makes you think about the kind of person you are and what more you can do to help in the world.
June 6, 2015
I absolutely loved this book. It is set up as a series of interviews and highlights different individuals who took part in the resistance and rescue movement and each story is a testament to the goodness of human nature.
April 3, 2009
an uplifting story about the holocaust. when people are seriously tested, I think that is when their true nature comes out.
January 11, 2012
Awesome.
July 5, 2015
This book had a great balance of narrative and interviews. I'm very glad this book was written; all of these brave people deserved to finally have their stories told.
October 27, 2014
I really enjoyed reading this book. Amazing stories of heroism, resistance and humanity.
February 9, 2015
Stories of the Holocaust always amaze me - both in good and bad ways. It was uplifting to read this book.
August 8, 2020
5.00/5.00
November 14, 2022
The main character is very awesome.
April 20, 2017
Some books really do give you hope and inspiration, and this series of profiles of Dutch people who saved Jews from Nazis is one of them. It felt particularly timely to read it now, too. The need for brave, hopeful and hard headed people has never been greater.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews